What better forum than Oprah for the New Jersey Guv to start dealing with the elephant in the room of every discussion of his political prospects?

After a tantalizing flirtation with a GOP presidential campaign, Gov. Chris Christie is on every list as a vice presidential pick for Mitt Romney, whom he has endorsed. The trash-talking, crowd-pleasing Christie is a perfect counterweight to the ultra-groomed, overly earnest Mitt, certainly in the charisma department, and is one of the top conservative stars in the country right now. Check out his definitive policy speech at the Reagan library last year.

Christie’s problem for the presidency was that he had only been governor of New Jersey for two years. And that he is obese. His girth, though normal by current U.S. standards, prompted ostensibly serious questions among the punditocracy about whether his weight disqualified him for the presidency. Liberal columnist Eugene Robinson led the charge.

Although a fellow Northeasterner and by some counts even a moderate, Christie’s usefulness to the Romney campaign was on full display last week in New Hampshire, where Christie deftly turned the tables on a heckler and lit up the crowd. Christie accused the heckler of being “blinded by her Barack Obama-induced anger,” and “disorientated by the loss of hope and change.”

Christie went on to fuel the speculative fires about his Veep ambitions, telling Fox News, “I think it’s awful to say I won’t do something when it hasn’t been offered.”

Oprah and Christie will share overstuffed chairs in the gov’s New Jersey home Sunday to “to discuss his lifelong struggle with weight, why he resisted a run for the White House and more,” according to the Oprah Winfrey Network.

First Look: Governor Chris Christie Talks About His Late Mother

See all the preview clips here. Show airs Sunday, January 15, at 9/8c on Oprah’s Next Chapter.